The IPL and Kerry Packer’s Circus
The IPL is in the doldrums. And most of the fans actually appear shocked. The outsiders always had an inkling that something was going to happen. Rumours of match-fixing and spot-fixing had been doing the rounds for the past couple of years. And now with the arrest of three players, charges against top cricket administrators and even a leading international umpire, it appears that the rot has set in deep. And now the same people who screamed hoarse with excitement over the “wonderful” turn of events in several IPL matches, have turned skeptics overnight and become the worst critics of this annual cricketing event. But we need to put things first in perspective. Who were the biggest fans of the IPL – the ones who thronged the stadiums and watched every ball of these “tamasha” matches? Most of them were not true cricket fans. They would not be able to tell you basic cricketing facts like what’s a “reverse swing” or the difference between an ‘in-swing” and the “out swing.” It is ...